Sergio Perez admitted it was a painful experience after retiring from his home race in Mexico for the first time on Sunday.
Having scored points on all three previous visits to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the Force India driver was leading his team’s charge through the field having started 13th but had to retire with brake failure around the halfway mark.
“It hurts a lot, it hurts a lot,” he said. “I think we had at least seventh place in our pocket and the great strategy that we started planning [in qualifying] was really paying off.
“Sometimes in racing you have these big disappointments when there is an issue. It was the brakes that forced me to retire because suddenly the pedal went long and we had to park the car.”
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With teammate Esteban Ocon also failing to score after an incident-filled race it marked a big setback for the Silverstone-based squad in their effort to re-take McLaren for sixth in the Constructors’ Championship but now they sit 15 points behind with two races to go.
“Until then it had been a really exciting race for me – I had a great first lap, getting ahead of Fernando [Alonso], and then some good battles with the Saubers later in the race,” Perez continued.
“I was controlling my race, looking after the tyres, and I thought we would pick up some good points. I feel sorry for the team and for the fans who have been incredible this week.
“They always make me feel very proud and they gave me amazing support.”